


An Escape from Ordinary

by Sherlockwaygraham



Category: Hannibal (TV)
Genre: AU, First Meeting, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-08-04
Updated: 2013-08-07
Packaged: 2017-12-22 09:22:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,154
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/911566
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sherlockwaygraham/pseuds/Sherlockwaygraham
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hannigram AU where Will is not sick and is a middle class middle school teacher who meets a very wealthy Hannibal by accident in a used book shop. It is supposed to have a bit of a romantic comedy feel to it since I have been watching a lot of them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A Meeting Of Chance

**Author's Note:**

  * For [celestial-time-sorceress](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=celestial-time-sorceress).



Will entered the used bookstore happy to get out of the rain. He had forgotten his umbrella in his classroom not knowing he would actually need it since the weather said nothing about rain today. None the less Will shook his head just a bit making his curls pop as he stepped to the side to remove his glasses. He would have to wipe them off so he could actually see. He had to unbutton his coat to get to his shirt and even that was a bit damp. 

The book shop smelt of old paper and stale coffee and Will welcomed that smell. Since he was a child Will had always loved old books- well to be honest he loved books in general. His mother would take him to same one near his old home to buy books for school and he never seemed to break out of the habit. Though this was different store then he used to go to, but Will always bought books to teach his classes from this used book shop.

Slipping his glasses back on Will smiled to himself as he started to make his way up and down the aisles in search of ‘The Outsider’s’. He had a pretty good idea where he could find it but he decided to take the extra few minutes to wonder around and simply enjoy himself. He had nothing truly pressing he needed to get around to anyway. 

Making his way past an attractive blonde Will rounded the corner of the aisle he was just walking down and found what he was looking for. The book sat on the very top shelf siting alone and staring right at Will as if were a message from god. That was of course just an expression but that is what it felt like as Will made his way over it. While Will approached it, the bookshelf seemed to grow. It was defiantly taller then Will had anticipated. 

Looking up, and up, and up at ‘The Outsiders’ on the top shelf siting there above the world and now mocking. Will was not a short man; he was actually of average height but that right now that seemed rather irrelevant. But he needed that book, it was the whole reason he pressed on in the rain and made sure to make it here today, to buy that one book. 

Looking around his area Will saw no one who seemed to be working there. He could have gone to find someone to help him- actually that would have been the better thing to do. Instead Will returned his gaze to the book and squares his shoulders. He was not going to let this book win. 

Stepping on a lower shelf to give him a boost up Will also gripped a middle shelf for balance. What he did not expect was for the bookshelf to wobble forward under his weight. His body began to panic going completely still with his right arm outreached for the book that was just brushing his fingertips. Logic should have told him to get down, to walk off and ask someone to help get the book down but no. Will strained his legs on the bottom shelf until his fingertips bumped the book enough so he could grasp it- or so he thought.

Will instead bumped the book off the shelf and slipped backwards taking the middle shelf his left hand gripped with him. Now falling backwards in what seemed like slow motion Will’s arms whipped around as he went. He thought he would hit the hard floor but no again, Will fell right onto a whole person who must have been watching or passing by him just before he fell. The books and bookshelf he dismantled also falling, hitting him in the face and chest.

“Shit.” Will swore as he rolled over to see the damage of the other person and mess he made.

“I am so sorry; I didn’t know you were there.” Will said reaching out to the man who was lying on his side, his arm covering his face. 

The man groaned but reached out for Will’s hands so he could help them both back to their feet. A decent sized circle of people formed around them but Will paid them no mind. The man wore a three piece suit with a long overcoat over that and very shiny black shoes. Not something you would wear to a used book shop but Will wasn’t about to judge him since he nearly killed him.

“I really am sorry.” Wills said again as the man looked him over as he wiped his hands down the front of himself.

“What on earth were you doing anyway?” The man asked and Will was suspired he had an accent. 

“I- was trying to get a book. I-It was on the top shelf.” Will says to the man, realizing how attractive the man before him was in an almost unconventional way. 

“Sir is everything alright?” A girl with a tight bun says pushing past the people who have stopped to look at Will and the man he nearly squashed. 

“Yes, I’m sorry.” Will turns to her as her eyes widen at the pile of books and detached bookshelf at Will’s feet. 

“It was an accident.” Will continues, bending down to start stacking the books up in small piles. The woman with the bun making a rather disapproving sound before saying:

“I’ll be right back with a cart.” Before hurrying off,

Will felt his face flush with embarrassment as he picked up the copy of ‘The Outsiders’ and shook his head. 

“That was silly thing to do for a book.” The man that Will fell on said making Will jump not excepting the man to still be there; unless he was hurt and was looking for some kind of payment or something. 

“Well if I don’t do one silly thing a day it wouldn’t be my life.” Will said in attempts to be funny looking over to the other man who had kneeled down to help stack up books. To his relief the man smiled at him. 

“Are you alright?” Will asked his eyes wondering over the pleasurably sculpted planes of the other man’s face. 

Before he could answer the women with the bun returns trying to get the people staring at them to move and pushed a cart next to Will.

“Nothing’s broken so it’s alright. Just please next time come and get someone to help you.” The woman says a little agitated. 

“Yes, I will remember that.” Will said grabbing a stack of books to place in the cart, the other man followed suit and helped placing the books into the cart. They did this in silence until the man placed the bookshelf on top of the cart and turned to Will. 

“Best not leave without this.” The man said smirking and handing him ‘The Outsiders’ book. Will smiled slightly taking the book. He had set it aside as they placed the books in the cart so he could use both of his hands. 

“Thank you.” The man looked Will up and down a small smile playing along his lips.

“Of course.” Will felt himself flush but he hoped the other man did not. He clenched the book in his hands and avoided eye contact with the man but neither of them moved. 

“You never answered me,” Will finally said, shifting his feet and blinking to look up at the other man.

“Are you alright?” 

The man seems to consider the question for a moment before answering it.

“I have been through worse, but if you are feeling any guilt about it you could make it up to me.” The man’s smile was borderline devilish, and it made Will’s heart quicken at the sight. 

“What did you have in mind?” Will asked half flirting half generally concerned what the man might say.

The man must have picked up on Will being a bit uncomfortable because he leaned forward so the shadows engulfed the planes of his face and said.

“I’ll take your soul.” 

That made Will chuckle and the man seemed pleased by this.

“But buying me coffee would be just as good.” The man said straightening up and Will felt a wave of anxiety wash over him. It has been far too long since he was asked out on a date by an attractive person. Will was not quite a people person; the only people he was able to deal with socially are his dogs and his students. Though dogs do not count as people.  
“I think I can do coffee.” Will said licking his lips and holding the book against his chest with one hand and reaching out his other to the man.

“I’m Will Graham.” The man looked to Will’s hand before reaching out and grasping it in a small awkward shake.

The man opened his mouth to tell Will his name but before he could a woman walked up and interrupted.

“Hannibal, we are going to be late to the office.” The woman said and Will turned to look at her. She had long black slightly curled hair, pale skin ad bright blue eyes. She reminded Will of a grown up Snow White. She wore a ruffled button up shirt tucked into a pencil black skirt and black heels.

Will then drops Hannibal’s hand.

“Right, this is my assistant Alana bloom and as you can piece together I am Hannibal.” Hannibal says with a dangerous smile to Will before shooting Alana a look. Alana turned pink.

“I didn’t mean to interrupt.” Alana says, “I will wait for you outside.” She gives Will a small wave goodbye before walking away swiftly. 

“Rain-check?” Will asks giving Hannibal a small smile. 

“May I?” Hannibal asks reaching out for Will’s glasses. Will freezes blinking at Hannibal as the man pushes his glasses up the bridge of his nose. This caused Will to notice the crack in the left lens. Touch felt far more intimate to Will then it should have been.

“And here is my number.” Hannibal says pulling out a business card with his other hand and handing to will to takes it brushing his fingers over Hannibal’s.

“I will hold you up to your ‘Rain-check’ offer.” Hannibal smiled making him look handsome.

“N-Nice meeting you.” Will says still clenching the book to his chest so hard his knuckles turned white. 

“Oh, the pleasure was all mine.” Hannibal says in a silky smooth accent ridden voice before turning on his heel and walking away. 

Hannibal left Will there, looking after him with a lump in his throat and a clenching feeling in his stomach, clenching the book to his chest. Taking a deep breath, letting it out in a shuttering huff Will wants to slap himself. He deals with dozens of puberty ridden teenagers yet it made him feel sick to flirt or have someone flirt with him. 

Shaking his head Will finally turned away putting the card in his coat pocket before making his way to the cahier who thankfully was not the women with the bun. 

To be continued...


	2. What Are Friends For?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hannigram AU where Will is not sick and is a middle class middle school teacher who meets a very wealthy Hannibal by accident in a used book shop. It is supposed to have a bit of a romantic comedy feel to it since I have been watching a lot of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted to introduce a best friend character and I though Beverly would be a good fit. I promise there will be more Hannibal and Will interaction in the next chapter.

Will knows he should have been looking over his ‘let’s get to know the students’ sheets he likes to start every New Year of classes. It helped him to know how to deal with each child differently without doing in front of the other students- he never wanted to single anyone out.  But his mind constantly decided to wonder to his coat pocket where the Hannibal’s business card still sat since that day they meet.

 

Will honestly did not have the nerve to actually call him.

 

Shifting around papers on his desk at work, Will sighed knowing how pathetic he was being about this. Obviously Hannibal liked him enough to give him his number- yet Will couldn’t help but feel like if he did call Hannibal would get mad or something equally as stupid. To be fair to him-self Will was born this way, he didn’t ask to be socially awkward.

 

A knock comes to his classroom door and Will is surprised for a second, but only a second before he invited them in. He does not get many visitors since he really did not talk to other teachers much.

 

“Hello stranger.” Beverly said a wide smile gracing her pretty face. Will smiled up at her pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

 

Beverly made her way over to his desk in a deep navy blue button up tucked into a pair of form fitting black slacks and heeled black boot that clicked again the floor when she took a step. Her long black hair pulled back away from her face today. She decided to take a seat on Will’s desk.

 

“So what are you procrastinating today?” Beverly asked making Will sit back in his seat and fold his arms over his sweater covered chest.

 

“What makes you think I am procrastinating?” Will asked innocently looking away from her and down at his desk trying to hide the small smile that wanted to reach his lips.

 

“Because the only time you are making that face,” Beverly said using her finger to gesture to Will’s face making him look up at her,

 

“And are still here grading papers or whatever it is that you do here is because you are procrastinating. So spill.” Beverly more demanded then asked sounding rather smug as she folded her legs. She was still grinning at him and Will thought that if things were a bit different he could actually like Beverly as a girlfriend. 

 

Will rolled his shoulders and sighed.

 

“I got someone’s number and I am supposed to call them for coffee but…” Will pressed his lips together trailing off. Beverly knew how he was, she had seen him act just like his every time he was ever interested in someone or they were interested in him.

 

“So who is she?” Beverly asked now excited and ready for gossip not that she cared for it too much if it were anyone else, but she was rather keen on knowing Will’s.

 

“It’s not a she it’s a him.” Will said dropping his arms and taking off his glasses so he could rub his face. It wasn’t a secret that he was bisexual but he found himself dating more women than men. Not for any particular reason but because it just happened to turn out that way.

 

“Even sexier, where’d you meet him?” Beverly inquired jumping down form the table to she could turn to face Will head on and pressing her hands on his desk so she could lean forward. Will felt like he was being interrogated now and if he didn’t answer fasted enough Beverly would end up shining a light in his face.

 

“I sort of fell down at him in a book store,” Will said grinning at the memory of it. He was honestly surprised they had not banned him from the place for being stupid enough to climb a shelf for a book rather then ask.

 

“It’s a boring story really.” Will went on clearing his throat and avoiding eye contact with her.

 

“Yeah right, ‘oh how did you met?’ ‘Well we were next to each other in joining cubicles at work’ is a boring story. ‘I almost squashed him to death and he gave me his number’ is something that only happens in books and movies which means it is not boring.” Beverly shifted and Will caught a glimpse of her cleavage and felt embarrassed before looking away.

 

“Back to the point did you like him too or was he just some creep that slipped his number in your pocket?” Beverly asked grinning, she obviously knew Will would have said that before letting the conversation get this far. She was just trying to make a point.

 

“No, I did like him. I mean at least my first impression wasn’t to punch him in the face at least.” Beverly rolled her eyes at Will; he was purposely being difficult now. They have been through these kinds of conversations too many times for it to be easy on anyone.

 

“Then why haven’t you called him? There is something causing you not to even if you don’t want to admit it.” Beverly asked slightly serious now as she pushed away from Will’s desk to crosser arms over her chest. Will sighed dramatically letting his head fall back onto the chair he sat in staring up at the celling of the class room.

 

“He is handsome and proper and wore a dam three piece suit to a book store and has an accent.” Will said no humor in his tone.

 

“You’re just making me like him more.” Beverly teased.

 

“I just- don’t see why he would want my number. Obviously he could do better.” Will finally got out, hoping if he didn’t actually say it out loud it would go away but it was true.

 

That was when a wadded up paper ball bounced off Will’s face and landed behind him on the floor. Will sits up abruptly in his seat to look at Beverly, who now had her hands on her hips.

 

“Maybe you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover,” Her tone was matter of fact, “Because maybe he doesn’t care about whatever insecurities you think he cares about. He was the one to give you his number.” She went on staring Will in the eyes to continue making her point.

 

“And because I know speeches like that never get through to you, if you don’t call him I will.”

 

Will laughed at that last comment.

 

“And how will you do that?” he asked smug, she didn’t know his number or him for that matter because she would have invited Will to him like she does with every other single friends she has.

 

“I know you Will, for a while now. I bet you anything right now that number is rotting away inside the pocket of your coat.” Beverly even made a point to turn and point to the coat hanging by the classroom door.

 

“It will rot there just like the others until you finally call or its laundry day and you clean out your pockets.” Will frowned; he should really try not to be too obvious.

 

“You can’t force me to call him.” Will huffed out and rubbed his face again. Beverly said nothing but gave Will a look that made him cringe internally.

 

“Alright you can but you shouldn’t.” Will said feeling a bit tired, “You should use your powers for good.” Beverly grinned again.

 

“I am.” She stated before looking at her watch.

 

“I have to go; I’ll see you Saturday for drinks.” She wasn’t asking and she didn’t need too. They always went out for drinks on Saturday’s without fail since they became friends. 

 

“Yeah.” Will responded anyway watching Beverly smile before making her way to the door.

 

She then turned on her heel after opening the door to look back at Will.

 

“You shouldn’t hide behind your glasses.” Was all she said before disappearing out the door and closing it after her-self.

 

Will shook his head looking down at his glasses.

 

~*~

 

After a few more minutes of getting nothing done and casually looking over to his coat now and then Will decided to leave. Obviously avoiding things in his class room was not going to work.

 

Out on the street feeling a bit disappointed in him-self Will forgot he had a car until he walked four blocks away from it. Hanging his head for a second and sagging his shoulders Will could not believe himself. He was literally unraveling over a phone number. No not a number but the man on the other end that would answer if he called that number. Will sighed.

 

Finally making his way back to the school’s parking lot and getting into his car Will sat there buckling himself in thinking.

 

Fine. _Fine_. He would do it.

 

Pulling the card from his coat pocket Will pulled out his cell phone and started to dial the number on the card. Maybe deleting the number three times before actually dialing and pressing send.

 

His hand started to sweat and he seriously considered hanging up a few time before a women’s voice came over the phone.

 

“This is the office of Dr. Hannibal Lecter how may I help you?” The women’s voice was cheery and sound rather familiar.

 

“I-I Uh I’m looking for Hannibal?” Will felt awkward saying. His face felt sunburnt and his inside twisting so hard he thought he might puke.

 

“Hannibal is with a patient right now you can leave a message for him if you like, who should I say is calling?” The woman asked and Will could hear her moving around papers on her desk.

 

All this trouble and he would have to leave a message.

 

“It’s Will- Will Graham; tell him I met him at the book store. Hopefully he will remember who I am.” Wills said sinking in his seat. Disappointment and a bit of relief washing over his limbs.

 

“Right, I remember you. It’s me Alana.” Alana’s voice was less business than before.

 

“Yes hello.” Will felt awkward and maybe a bit foolish after saying that to her.

 

This makes Alana laugh.

 

“You know I could give you the address and you can come tell him yourself.” Alana suggests and for a second Will’s heart seizes.

 

“W-Why would you do that? why would I do that?” Will asks his voice shaking slightly at the idea of just showing up at the man’s job.

 

“Hannibal likes you, and you haven’t called him back in three day’s I’m sure it would be a pleasant surprise for him.” Alana says and Will wonders just how close Hannibal was to Alana that she would know he had not called in three days. Does that mean Hannibal was complaining about it to her? Or had she counted?

 

“Well there has to be a reason he gave me his work number.” Will said making excuses and he knew this but couldn’t stop himself.

 

“Yes he did,” Alana said clearly amused, “Because he lost his cell phone.” She chuckles.

 

“Look I am holding up the line just stop by.” Alana says before rattling off the address and hanging up on will.

 

This was worse than the number.

 

You can do this. You. Can. Do. This.

 

Will said taking a deep breath and starting his car.

 

~*~

 

Alana had greeted Will with an excited demeanor. He had finally worked up the nerve to get out of his car and walk inside which Will was not sure how he managed.  But he did and that was now the important thing.

                                                                                                                          

The waiting room was stunning; it was filled with expensive paintings and carpet. The seats were actually couches that looked like they were worth more than Will’s whole living room set.

 

Will felt a bit out of place standing there looking around dumbly at everything, He even started to press his hand over his tucked in brown plaid shirt, his tan khakis and the suit jacket he normally wears to teach in. He even started to wonder if he was too deep in to just run out the door jump in his car and drive away. Will dismissed the idea of course but it was still there lurking in the back of his mind.

 

Consumed with his thoughts Will did not hear the door open to Hannibal’s office until Will heard his voice.

 

“I will see you next Wednesday Franklyn,” Is what Will heard before turning his head to look over his shoulder at the voice.

 

Hannibal stood in his door way looking to a short chubby man who sniffled then walked away.

 

“Hello.” Will said turning fully to face Hannibal whose eyes flickered over to Will, a look of surprised evident until Hannibal grinned.

 

“Will, I was not expecting you. I thought you might have called first.” Hannibal said raising an eyebrow.

 

“I-I’m not stalking you or anything,” Will said his face flushing, “I called and you were in a meeting and Alana suggested I come by in person and it honestly sounded harmless when I agreed to it.”

 

Hannibal’s amused expression should have calmed Will down, obviously he wasn’t angry or creeped out but it did not. Will felt like puking and silently cursed himself. He should have known better than this.

 

“I am happy to see you Will.” Hannibal says, “And I am not busy for the next hour or so if you are ready to cash in that rain-check.”

 

“Yes I’d like that.” Will smiled back.

 

“Good.” Hannibal reached back into his office to grab his long over coat.

 

“I know a nice place we can go.” Hannibal tells Will shrugging on his coat and locking his office door.

 

To be continued…

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!


End file.
